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Nalgonda man is new VC of JNU
Becoming the Vice Chancellor of Jawaharlal Nehru University, figured in the top 100 list of the Times Higher Education Asia and BRICS, is no mean achievement by any standard. Mamidala Jagadesh Kumars lower middle class background against a rural backdrop never came on his way to reach this pinnacle.
Hyderabad: Becoming the Vice-Chancellor of Jawaharlal Nehru University, figured in the top 100 list of the Times Higher Education Asia and BRICS, is no mean achievement by any standard. Mamidala Jagadesh Kumar’s lower middle-class background against a rural backdrop never came on his way to reach this pinnacle.
Yes this fitness freak professor, who was born to a predominantly agricultural family at Mamidala village under Tipparthi Mandal of Nalgonda district, has lot of plans when he takes over the reins of the JNU on January 28. Albeit Jagadesh Kumar had worked abroad in the early 1990s and has been working with the IIT Delhi for over two decades, the bicycle ride he prefers to reach the university and then back home every day sums up the story of a person who is down to earth.
Even today, he doesn’t own a car. Currently, he holds the position of NXP (Philips) Chair Professor at IIT Delhi, established by Philips Semiconductors, Netherlands, besides the Member (PT) of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) and the Chief Investigator of the Nanoscale Research Facility (NRF).
Looking forward to the new assignment with loads of enthusiasm, Prof Jagadesh spoke to The Hans India over phone on Saturday. “There is talent in abundance in the rural and semi-urban areas, but what lag them behind were adequate opportunities. Very few get an opportunity to pursue their academics in eminent varsities like JNU where the cream of the best faculty is available,” he said.
By providing the online access of the videoed sessions of the JNU curricula, which has an outstanding track record of academic achievement in social sciences and humanities, to the students, it’s possible to address the academic deficiency across the varsities in the country, Prof Jagadesh said, pointing to his future plans.
Talking about his childhood and schooling in his native village Mamidala and Miryalaguda, Prof Jagadesh said that in early days he had difficulty in adapting English as his entire education was in Telugu medium. The professor, who had grown up with passion for fitness, is a karateka (a practitioner of karate) right from his IITian days in Chennai where he got MS (EE) and PhD (EE) degrees from the Dept of Electrical Engineering. He was also an alumnus of Osmania University, from where he got BSc and MSc degrees.
